287 Loop Around NYC

Note to self: When traveling to New Haven, CT from Philly, blow past NYC/NJ traffic jams by jumping off I-95 onto 287. It's less than 50 miles out of the way and stress-free. Also, it completely bypasses the very heavily traveled George Washington Bridge in favor of the easy-to-cross Tappan Zee bridge.

Tent Rocks

For my annual birthday trip (April/May), Mary and I flew out to New Mexico. We were lucky enough to stay with friends in Albuquerque.

A highlight of the trip was hike through the canyon at Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. Some pictures follow. As always, remember to click a pic to see it expanded into a larger view.

Get this: We were in a truly isolated location, miles away from the highway. The road to the canyon itself as a long dirt road, a "washboard" ride. So, pretty remote, eh? No. Three busloads of school kids plus a caravan of parents and/or teachers arrived moments after we did! In mock terror, we bolted for the bathrooms before they were lost to us forever!

Pic	Comments
	The start of our hike into the canyon. I should have zoomed in on this one. At the top is a giant boulder perched precariously on an outcropping.
	Once inside the canyon, we quickly had a camera shootout—these 2 guys shooting us while we shot them.
	I was fascinated by this tree not only framed by the canyon walls but also with its huge trunks exposed. Most likely, the dirt they used to be buried in was washed away during the rare flash floods through the canyon.
	I welcomed seeing man streak across the sky while I inched my way through the canyon.
	I like the contrast of dark and light here combined with proximity and distance.
	Life sprouting up at the first opportunity amidst the immovable.
	Sights like this make me wonder what it'd be like to see nature at her furious work during rare Southwest rain storms. Of course, to be there personally would be dangerous!
	Mary is framed here as we hustle between the canyon walls closing in on us and crowds of loud children catching up with us from the buses.
	Majestic and exotic.
	Fortunately, the temperature was uncharacteristically cool. That made it easier to keep trekking all the way to the top.
	At certain points, I half expected a film crew to pop up amid the rocks shooting a scene for the Star Trek series: "Jim, I'm a doctor, not a geologist! Ask Spock about these rock formations, dammit!"
	So, Spock, what can you tell me about these formations?
	Having covered the canyon floor, we now begin a long, slow ascent. By the way, the canyon floor was often very sandy, like a beach, a gentle reminder of the danger of being in the canyon while it's raining.
	Catching my breath on the way to the top...
	Sometimes it's good to look down...
	It's even better to look out at the distance...
	Here's another look at looking down, at looking at the stairway to heaven; well, to a heavenly view...
	Ahhh...
	I love this shot. It's my laptop's new wallpaper image.
	Drinking in the view...
	On the way out, more jets passing by. Thanks, guys, for bringing me to this wonderful place!

Tracking US Flights

Did you know that you can track US flights at http://flightaware.com? I didn't until recently. I've found it handy to keep track of friends and family coming and going cross-country. And it's free.

View from the Mirage

Another video clip from Mary's camera. This one is of the Vegas strip from the front of the Mirage hotel.

Valley of Fire Videos

Here are 2 video clips I took with Mary's awesome Nikon Coolpix L3 camera. I had to drop this clip off at Google Video and then embed it here in my blog. Roundabout but not too much work.

Hoover Dam and Boulder City

On the dam, we, of course, walked across the borderline into Arizona. Here, you see the intake tower on Arizona's side of the line.

Here's a closer shot of the Arizona intake tower. Shortly, you'll see that the clock is the same time on the Nevada side as on Arizona's. They're not always the same since Arizona does not comply with daylight savings. On this day, they happen to coincide.

This plaque marks not only the Nevada/Arizona border but the first time I've been in two places at once. If only I could bottle that phenomenom and use it when I do my chores!

Here, of course, is the Nevada intake tower.

Next to the dam, cut into the rock, is an ice cream shop. Not only is it a wonderful contrast to the hard core engineering feat, it's just coolly refreshing to down some ice cream after being baked in the desert heat.

After leaving the ice cream shop, we passed by this sculpture. More information on it is available here.

Up the road from Hoover Dam is Boulder City. It's beautifully eerie to remember that this city is in a desert when you see its lush green lawns.

The palm tree on the left is a reminder that I was not in New England.

The sign on the pole reminds us who works for whom.

Great view of Lake Mead from Boulder City.

The Boulder City Hotel, where Mary's friend Ilana was staying. I like this hotel. If I visit this area again, I'll stay here instead of in Vegas. The rent is much cheaper and the small town pace and feel appeals to me. It was an especially welcome contrast to the intense pedestrian congestion in Vegas.

End of the day in Boulder City.

Valley of Fire & Hoover Dam

Here's another pic from the Valley of Fire. I like the blue-green color of the clumps of grass. I don't recall ever seeing that color before, not in plants anyway.

Still in the valley, we stopped at this spot for the view and to walk up a stretch of rock. Notice all the vegetation. Visiting the desert in April is a practical choice. I doubt that vegetation will still be that color in August.

Our visit to Hoover Dam was a fitting change of pace—from desert to dam. Mary is posing with her friend, Ilana, for my first dam picture and not the last of my dam puns.

Mary and I strike a pose.

Next, it's Ilana's turn with her husband, Angus. Both very sharp and a lot of fun.

The swirling, life-giving water of the now tamed Colorado River.

A shot from the dam.

Notice that the towers are at an angle; a logical concession to the rough terrain.

The leaning towers are set in sharper contrast here against the straight, vertical line of the observation tower.

Here, you can see the foundation for the bridge that will eventually span the river. It will relieve the considerable congestion of the traffic that flows across the dam daily.

That's it for now. More to follow.

Vegas

My birthday celebration this year was in Vegas. Originally, I was going to visit the Grand Canyon. However, meeting Mary changed that. Specifically, a friend, an archaeologist, of hers was going to be in Boulder City, a short drive from Vegas. That and Mary's familiarity with Vegas and its surroundings tipped the scale.

One of the nice features of this trip was this: departing New England in the midst of pouring rain and temps in the 50s and heading west to dry desert temperatures near 100. Ahhhh....

Coming from that geographical context, I was inspired to snap some photos as we passed over the Rockies. Check them out. Remember: You can see a larger version of each one by clicking the picture.


Finally in Vegas, I was pleased to pick up my car rental—a PT Cruiser. It proved to be very practical in the desert heat—i.e., easy to cool and to keep cool as well as easy to drive.

Unfortunately, our arrival in Vegas was tainted by a major computer problem at the Mirage registration desk. Close to an hour passed before we finally got our keys and headed for our room. Ugh.

Fortunately, that was the worst of the hiccups for the trip. The service at the Mirage and elsewhere was excellent. That was a welcome contrast to the lousy service I got at a bed and breakfast in Gettysburg last year.

A friend suggested trying a gondola ride at the Venetian. Here's a shot of what that would entail.



Expand it. Notice the pedestrian and auto traffic close by. Also, check out the gondola and its passengers in the foreground. No cover. The temps were close to 100. Yeah, it's a dry heat but too oppressive for my tastes. Pass.

The Vegas strip pretty much bored me after a few hours. Among other things, it made me wonder if the number of zombie movies pouring out of Hollywood could be explained by the intense number of pedestrians pouring onto the Vegas strip at night, walking in a sluggish, zombie-like fashion.

Anywho, on my birthday night, we took in a show at the Mirage. We saw Cirque du Soleil's
The Beatles Love performance. Yawn. It had its moments but for the money I laid out I was expecting something exotic, some kind of big finish. Nope. If we had kids in tow, it would have been an appropriate choice.

The next day, we headed for the desert to see the Valley of Fire. This was cool. However, as we got deeper into the desert, I paid attention to the fact that gas stations were few and far between. In fact, on the whole excursion, I saw exactly 1 gas station. So, I gassed up at the first station even though my tank was close to full.

Some shots and comments from the Valley of Fire follow.

This patch of rock gave me a surprise. While walking across it, I kicked a stone. When it skidded across the rock, it produced a hollow sound. The baked boulders are hollow! Yet we could walk across them safely.

Another tourist snapped this pic for us. Getting to this spot was slow. We trekked up a bumpy dirt road off the main paved road to get there. But the view was worth it.

Mary and I just liked the contrast of the white boulders rising abrubtly out of the red stone surface around it.

Here's the road home. It was a nice contrast of green grass, black mountains, the valley of red rock and especially the man-made, well paved road through it all.

That's it for tonight. More pics to follow.